Tag / podcast

Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum
by Alex Fischbein

The Atlantic Files Ep201: Boston Celtics are crumbling

This week on the Atlantic Files, the Boston Celtics are crumbling as we speak, Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors are on a hot streak, and all of a sudden the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Chicago Bulls are at the top of the East.

First of all, the Boston Celtics have plenty of time to not crumble and get themselves back together. Marcus Smart called out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for hogging the ball, especially at the end of games. He said it’s something that they’ll definitely learn from and they’ll get back on track. This sounded more like something he’s been trying to tell them behind closed doors for a long time and since they weren’t listening he finally said something to the press.

Then there’s James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets. Harden hasn’t looked like his usual self until just recently. He finally started attacking the rim, hitting his usual step-back jumpers, and wreaking havoc in the lane. A lot has been said about him being out of shape due to rehabbing during the off-season on top of the fact he’s getting used to the new foul rules. Does anything need to change on the Nets front to make sure they succeed without Kyrie Irving?

Another Atlantic team is surprising a lot of people at the moment. The Toronto Raptors have hit a little stride early on in the season. Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, and Gary Trent Jr. have all been improving and showing some great offensive flashes on top of a pretty fun defensive system to watch. This team is fun and they’re finally playing like it!

Finally, we have the Chicago Bulls at the top of the East along with two surprising teams. Both the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards were not supposed to be this high in the standings at all. Which of these two teams are the most for real? LaMelo Ball might actually be a real MVP candidate which is a scary thought!

Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
1:15 – James Harden doesn’t look right
8:20 – Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors
19:00 – Chicago Bulls are top of the East
29:00 – The Boston Celtics are crumbling and Marcus Smart is calling people out
40:30 – Who is an actual playoff team, Charlotte Hornets or Washington Wizards?

by Alex Fischbein

The Atlantic Files Ep200: New York Knicks szn with Josh Hayes

This week on The Atlantic Files:

This week on the Atlantic Files we welcome special guest Josh Hayes! He is the on-air host of Rotoballer Radio on SiriusXM. He joined us to talk about Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Scottie Barnes, and a plethora of Atlantic and NBA topics!

The Brooklyn Nets are only 2-2 so far this season. Their offense has looked very lackluster without Kyrie Irving and it’s a little concerning that James Harden hasn’t looked so great either. His offense has taken a big hit and we’re not sure if the foul rule changes have anything to do with it or if he’s just not mentally into it just yet. It’s obviously not time to hit the panic button, but something to follow as the season goes on.

Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers are still in the midst of a big battle. Should Daryl Morey and the Sixers just cave already and ship him off for anything? Josh Hayes seems to think that Morey needs to clean his hands of the whole thing already. Not sure if a lot of Sixers fans would love getting pennies on the dollar though.

On top of that, Scottie Barnes has already looked like Rookie of the Year material. Yes, it’s very early this season, but Barnes has still shown some huge flashes of amazing potential. Dennis had this thing called from the beginning, but it’s going to be fun to watch his growth.

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
2:40 – Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving, Patty Mills, and James Harden
15:50 – Philadelphia 76ers and Daryl Morey need to trade Ben Simmons for anything
19:50 – The New York Knicks look explosive
26:00 – LaMelo Ball for MVP?
29:00 – Lonzo Ball’s growth and the Chicago Bulls undefeated
33:10 – Boston Celtics don’t look great
44:03 – Minnesota Timberwolves a sneaky good team
50:12 – Scottie Barnes for Rookie of the Year and Toronto Raptors great youth
57:35 – Fantasy Basketball gems

by Alex Fischbein

The Atlantic Files Ep199: Let the 2021-22 NBA Season begin!

This week on The Atlantic Files:

The 2021-22 NBA season is finally upon us! Before we get to all the fun and predictions though, we have to talk about yet more drama. More reports and news came out about Ben Simmons, so of course, we have to address it.

Ben Simmons apparently was believed to almost fake a Covid-19 exposure so that he could miss game seven against the Atlanta Hawks last year. On top of that, he didn’t believe that he was allowed to fail as much as past number one picks. We’re not sure exactly why all of this is coming out nor how accurate it may be. If it is true, however, that’s some scary stuff to hear if any Sixers fans were hoping for some improvement.

After wrapping up the latest Ben Simmons drama, it’s time to get to the fun stuff! First, we predicted all of the NBA regular season awards and even the All-NBA First Team. There are a lot of good candidates for MVP this year such as Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, and Stephen Curry. Plus, plenty of super interesting candidates for Most Improved Player of the year!

On top of that, we also had to deliver our Finals and 2022 NBA Champion predictions. We may have had one team that was all the same, but our Western Conference winners were different!

Then, we get to our one bold prediction of the year. Plus a little bonus compared to past years. For all of the fantasy basketball players out there, we added something for you all! We talked about who we thought would be the top NBA fantasy scorers and our favorite sleeper picks too!

Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
2:10 – Ben Simmons faking covid exposures and not able to fail
21:00 – 2021-22 NBA award and All-NBA predictions
50:32 – 2021-22 NBA Finals and Champion predictions
52:10 – One bold prediction for the 2021-22 NBA Season
55:55 – Top NBA fantasy scorers this season and our favorite sleeper pick